Month: August 2010

*** 6:20 p.m. update: espn.com’s initial report, posted a few minutes after the Merc’s story, has been updated several times and is absolutely worth reading. (Katz all over the story, as usual.) The Salt Lake Trib, which has done a dynamite job covering the BYU/MWC/WAC developments since Day One, then posted a story on its website (also updated) – and I’m sure will provide much more coverage this evening. I’m waist deep in college football responsibilities at the moment but will have thoughts on the latest news tonight …

The move, which takes effect for the 2011-12 season, changes the face of major college sports in the western third of the country — weakening the Mountain West (BYU’s current home) and strengthening the WCC, whose members include three Bay Area schools: Santa Clara, St. Mary’s and USF.

It’s also a blow to the Western Athletic Conference, which had hoped to provide a home for BYU’s non-football3:45 p.m. update: espn.com’s report is here. teams even though it lost Fresno State and Nevada to the Mountain West.

An announcement is expected later today, according to a source, and a press conference is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow.

*** But first: I hit SJSU and Stanford yesterday and am heading to Cal this morning (the big question: will 90 minutes be enough to crawl up 880 to Berkeley?). I’ll report on developments from the three teams later today. Unless …

There’s major news on the BYU front. School officials supposedly are meeting today to determine the next move (football independence or back to the MWC).

Got my copy of the Sporting News college basketball preview magazine in the mail the other day and thought 1) it’s hoops season already? no, the magazine’s just out very early, and 2) at least for hoop junkies, a quick post on the highlights would be worthwhile.

* The line about TCU quarterback Andy Dalton returning for his ninth season was a joke — it only seems like he’s been around forever. (For a few readers, the humor apparently didn’t translate in the blog.)

* The first AP regular-season poll comes out Tuesday, Sept. 7, following the Labor Day weekend games (the NFL doesn’t start until the 9th.)

* Some useful poll-related links for the season: appollarchive is a good place for historical data; pollspeak is entertaining and informative; and the AP itself has a terrific website with all sorts of college football information, including each voter’s weekly ballot.

It’s been a head spinning few days on the realignment front — so many reports, so many rumors, that it’s tough to know what’s real, what’s false and what’s possible … especially with the continuing radio silence out of Provo.

Here’s the latest, with the most significant development, by far.

1. I’ve been told that BYU has reached out to the West Coast Conference about the possibility of placing its 18 teams that don’t play football into the WCC.

San Jose State players aren’t often compared to NFL players, much less Pro Bowl-caliber players. But sophomore tight end Ryan Otten has drawn comparisons to former Dallas Cowboys (and Santa Clara University) star Doug Cosbie since Otten was in high school.

At least one interested observer, however, believes the comparison is flawed.

“He was a lot better in high school player than I was,” said Cosbie, a three-time Pro Bowl selection. “We have similar skills, but physically he’s a lot further along. He has great athletic instincts.”

The Spartans hope those instincts translate to a breakout season for Otten, one of the most underutilized players on the roster last season.

Despite his 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame and soft hands, Otten caught only 10 passes, with a long of 14 yards and no touchdowns. But he impressed first-year coach Mike MacIntyre during spring practice and “will be a fixture in the offense” as a tight end and H back, MacIntyre said.

Otten, who grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Loomis, isn’t close to a finished product. His blocking skills must improve; he needs to get stronger and more consistent; and his routes must be refined. But as a big target for quarterbacks and a matchup problem for defenses, Otten might be the closest thing the Spartans have to a passing-game playmaker.

“It seems like the tight end is a lot more involved this year,” Otten said. “I had a small idea that was the case (after MacIntyre was hired). But it wasn’t until spring practice that I realized how much. We’re doing a lot of different stuff. I’m not lining up in the same place every time.”

The Spartans plan to use Otten the way the Cowboys used Cosbie for a decade — as a receiver in a tight end’s body, capable of catching third-down passes in traffic and sneaking behind the defense for long gains.

He has the requisite athleticism, as Cosbie realized the first time he saw Otten play for Del Oro High.

“I went to one of his games by chance,” said Cosbie, who lives in the Sacramento area. “I’m watching him and thinking, ‘I wish I’d been that good in high school.’

“So I asked his coaches, and they said nobody was really recruiting him. I didn’t get that one. There aren’t a lot of 6-foot-6 guys who are that athletic.”

Cosbie called then-SJSU assistant coach Ken Margerum — they coached together at Menlo College — and urged the Spartans to take a look. Otten eventually chose SJSU over Air Force, Weber State and Sacramento State. There was just one question: Doug who?

“I had never heard of him,” said Otten, who was born two years after Cosbie retired.

But the lanky tight ends from Sacramento became fast friends, to the point that they worked out together in the summer of 2009. Cosbie gave Otten tips on footwork, running routes and mental preparation. Otten offered Cosbie a trip back in time — to the mid-1970s, when he was a talented but raw tight end trying to make an impact at Santa Clara.

“They have the same type of body structure,” said SJSU assistant Terry Malley, who played with Cosbie for one year at Santa Clara. “Doug was a pretty good player, but we had a senior-dominated team. He’s one of those guys who just kept getting better.”

The Spartans hope the same is true of Otten.

Before we get to the feature I wrote on Otten for Tuesday’s Merc …

* I intended to get to Stanford late last week but scrapped those plans (twice) because of breaking news on the WAC/MWC realignment front, a story I will be following closely. My revised plan is to hit Cal camp tomorrow and Stanford either tomorrow or Thursday.

* SJSU coach Mike MacIntyre had planned to name a starting quarterback on Monday, then delayed the announcement by two days. I’m told a full depth chart will be released Wednesday.

* Under other circumstances, I’d consider it a very bad sign for SJSU that its veteran quarterback (Jordan La Secla) has been unable to separate himself from the newcomer (transfer Matt Faulkner). But because there’s a new playbook, La Secla’s experience is much less of an advantage. Even so, I’m somewhat surprised that the competition is as close as it appears to be.

The second installment in an ongoing series examining the Pac-10 schedules, because it’s not only who you play, it’s where and when you play them …

I’ve long believed that it’s an advantage to play a team the week after it plays USC, because win or lose there has been a huge emotional investment and, in many instances, a letdown the following week.

This was best exemplified last year when Stanford faced Oregon the week after the Ducks pounded USC in Eugene — it was a significant factor in Stanford’s thunderous victory.

The Cardinal, in fact, faced two teams the week after those team played USC: Before Oregon, there was Washington, which stunned the Trojans in Seattle and then got thumped in Stanford Stadium the following week.

*** Monday, 12:15 p.m. update: For BYU fans ripping me about missing the “exposure” issue: While your interest in the Hotline is greatly appreciated, it appears that you’re missing the point of this post.

Yes, yes, yes, exposure is a reason BYU is considering independence — perhaps even the reason. But the point of this post was to ID the factors that I believe are being discussed right now in the war room.

The moves by Fresno State and Nevada did nothing to change BYU’s goal in terms of seeking greater exposure. The war room issues, as I see them, are whether the school can/should swallow its pride and return to the MWC … whether it can leverage a better TV deal out of the MWC … whether it can find a viable home for its other sports without the WAC option … and whether it can create an independent football schedule in the short term without the inventory the WAC would have provided.

Exposure was, and is, the goal. But just about everything else has changed since Wednesday and those are the factors that must be addressed.

Hopefully, that clears things up for you.

First off: I’ve talked to several sources who believe that, when all is said and done, BYU will end up staying put in the Mountain West — frustrated, perhaps even furious, but back in the MWC … at least for another year or two.

Given the complete and total radio silence out of Provo, there’s no way for anyone outside the BYU brass to know for sure. What we can do, however, is examine the issues involved in BYU’s next move.

If you’re a fan of the Western Athletic Conference, or any of its member schools … or if you know anybody who might be … or is considering such an emotional investment in the future … then root for BYU to stick to its plans to become a football independent.

Things don’t look promising for the WAC right now. (How’s that for understatement?) It’s down to six schools. Hawaii’s rumbling about going independent. Utah State’s supposedly trying to get into the MWC. Louisiana Tech’s always a threat to bolt for Conference USA.

But the picture could get a lot dimmer if BYU decides to stay put in the Mountain West.